Technologies

Tesla sued by California agency alleging racial discrimination

The state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing says the carmaker’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace and Black workers are subjected to racial slurs.

A California agency tasked with enforcing the state’s civil rights laws has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Tesla, alleging racial discrimination and harassment occurred at the electric carmaker.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing said it filed the complaint Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court.

«After receiving hundreds of complaints from workers, DFEH found evidence that Tesla’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion creating a hostile work environment,» Kevin Kish, the agency’s director, said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.

Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment but criticized the agency’s investigation in a blog post Wednesday.

«Tesla strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment and has a dedicated Employee Relations team that responds to and investigates all complaints,» Tesla said in the post.

Tesla called the legal action «unfair and counterproductive» and pointed out that it’s the «last remaining automobile manufacturer in California» and that the workforce at its Fremont factory is predominantly minority.

The ageny’s lawsuit comes a day after a Black gay woman who formerly worked at another Tesla factory in California filed a lawsuit against the company ignored the racial and homophobic slurs and physical harm she endure. Kaylen Barker, who worked at Tesla’s Lathrop plant, alleged that she was struck with a grinding tool by a white co-worker who was calling her the n-word, according to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Alameda County.

The white employee was fired but then rehired two weeks later «without any forewarning or explanation,» she said in her complaint.Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on that case either.

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk announced plans in October to relocate the company’s corporate headquarters from California to Texas, but also said it would continue to expand its activities in California.

That same month, Tesla was ordered to pay nearly $137 million in damages in a lawsuit that alleged a Black former employee was subjected to racist abuse, discrimination and harassment at the company’s Fremont facility.

Silicon Valley has been a frequent target of the DFEH’s scrutiny in recent years. In a lawsuit last July, the agency accused gaming giant Activision Blizzard of discriminating against women and fomenting a toxic work culture. Microsoft, which announced in January it would purchase the game-maker for nearly $69 billion in cash, has pledged to change Activision’s culture.

A month earlier, games developer Riot Games agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle a 2018 gender discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the agency.

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Verum Messenger: Don’t follow the future. Define it

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Technologies

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Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
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